Sonoita

For all of you have moaned about my constant “warm sunny day” comment, here is a big change of pace.  It was a dang cold rainy windy day!!!

We stayed inside all morning.  But despite the total cloud cover this morning I was getting a charge from the solar panels.  We had the heat on all day and that has taken a slight toll on the batteries.  But 13.1v. instead of 13.7 at sunset isn’t bad at all.  We did have some sun this afternoon.  But we also had some snow at 11 AM!  Not enough to stick, but enough to see in the air.  

This afternoon we went out to Autumn Sage Vineyards, about 20 minutes away.  We each did a wine tasting so between us we sampled all but two of their wines.   They were a bit pricey at $38 and up.  Didn’t buy any bottles. 

Back at camp it’s still cold and windy.  Walked Skye a bit before supper but that was it. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer.  

Sunrise in the clouds

The small white dots are snowflakes

After the rain stopped the sun came out.  

The fog in mid screen is water evaporating from the ground

Mt Wrightson now has snow

Looking down on camp while walking Skye 

Sunset

Back to Gardner Canyon hike

We were here on Feb 5, so for the first half of the hike I’ll refer you to the photos I posted back then. Today we wanted to get to Bear Spring, which we didn’t reach last time.  It’s about a mile past the point where we turned around last time.  Most of the photos I’m posting today are from this new section.  It was about 6.3 miles round trip today. Mostly along the contour so it was pretty easy.  The hike reference says Bear Spring is a good place to turn around since the trail goes uphill steeply after that.

It was a windy and grey day at the start.  But we found a lot of shelter from the wind on our side of the mountain.  And then the clouds mostly scattered to let a good amount of sun shine in.

Tomorrow they talk about rain and maybe even a bit of snow in the morning.  Cold all day with a high of 45°. Brr.  But the radar shows the bulk of it passing by noon, showers in the afternoon, just not warming up until Saturday.  No worries, I set up the generator tonight so if we need some extra electricity to run the heater it’s all already.  And there are plenty of wineries around here to keep us entertained!  Sounds like a fine day for wine tasting.

When we arrived and parked the cattle were checking us out

Kind of cloudy and a bit threatening

Nice rock work supporting the trail

This was built long ago as a water supply route to the mine 

This rock looks like it recently came off the ledge

this rock fell onto another and made a mini cave

Sign indicates the horse trail goes down here

It would be difficult to get a horse through that cave

Trees and succulents 

We didn’t see Bear Spring but Skye found the water coming out of it

Back at the truck a cow wanted to get a drink but was leery of us

She did eventually get her drink after we got in the truck

Found some deer on the drive out.

Back to Empire Ranch, Sonoita, AZ

This time the Empire Ranch is more crowded, as we came north from the South Gate we noticed all the campsites were occupied.  So when we got tot our usual area we decided to stay right here.  There was only one space with room for us, and it has a camper in one corner of it already.  We are in the opposite corner.  There is plenty of room here, it’s just a bit more tight than we normally want.  For boondocking.  It’s 10 times what we would get at a spacious campground site.  It is just yards away from where we were last month.

Thanks for the good wishes in the comments about EOT and the blowout.  To reply to some of that, the Tire Pressure Monitor was showing good pressure in 3 tires, but no display at all for the one that blew.  That sensor was not connecting with the system.  Often the Lippert system will show some, but not all, of the tires.  Just luck that it was the one that blew that wasn’t reading.  And these are not China Bombs, the Hercules 901 is reportedly made in USA by Cooper.  The trailer specs load range D, these are 12 ply load range E.  I have had such lousy luck with tires that I started to upgrade last year and completed the upgrade all around this year.  Then blew one 50 weeks old.  Must have hit something.  Lots of tread left.  No side wall but lots of tread!

We went for a walk on this little road we are camped on, just to do something this afternoon.  Skye was delighted to be free again!  But we leashed her when we got near the watering pond.  It’s nice clear water and would be great for Skye on a hot day.  But we are in a cool weather pattern now with even some rain coming Friday.  Friday forecast, high 44, low 32 with showers.  Now, Sonoita in the month of March averages 2 rainy days for 1/2” of rain.  33% humidity.  Vs VT with around 42” annually.

Solar powered water pumped for the cattle

A hole in the berm letting some water flow out

Skye waiting in the shade

Look close, there are deer tracks in the foreground 

Tucson utility day

 Yup, just a few errands that took most of the day.

We went to the Rita Automotive & Tire store, the one that sells the brand I’m using, i.e. I have the same tires on all 4 wheels for a change.  They said they had 31 in the warehouse, available in 2 hours, how many do I want?

They called back while we were grocery shopping and said they could not get the mangled tire off the rim.  Their machine wouldn’t do it.  They suggested another store nearby.  So i picked up the tire and went to Discount Tire.  They dont sell Hercules, but would dismount the tire for $5-10.  When he took the tire out of the truck he said he’d just do it for me, no charge.  It took them several minutes to get it off!  I could see him watching two guys work on it.  He had told me that many shops didn’t have big enough machines in all cases, needed More Power!  

Back to Rita to order the tire.  A couple hours later they called that it was ready.  Back up to the store, luckily it’s only 6 miles from the fairgrounds.  Then to change the spare back to the Herc.  Whew.

Skye has been playful since we got here.  I think she senses that the Cowboying is done and we’re getting back to normal.  She probably recognizes this place, it may be her 5th time here.

Just some scenery on the way to the tire store

Trading this one in for a new one

Omega in the sky?

If I were to do sky writing in Greek I would use the letter pi

😆

Very quiet campground 

Transition day, back to Tucson

We spent most of the morning packing the camper and truck.  It’s a bit of a process to get everything back where it belongs for a long road trip.  I wont need the shooting gear until we get to FL on April 1.  So it’s all loaded in the front part of the truck bed.  All the cowboy duds are back in a duffle, boots in another duffle.  Load the bicycle, tables, chairs etc.

Then dump the tanks and refill the fresh water.

On the road down I-17 not too many miles from the range we had a blowout on the trailer.  That took 2 hours for roadside assistance to come help.  But it was a covered expense by Good Sam.  That was a 1 yr old tire 9000 miles.  And an upgrade tire too!  The trailer specs Load Range D, this was an E, 12 ply. Must have hit something.  But a rear axle tire, odd.  I didn’t feel anything.  The trailer handles very well even when its on 3 tires.

That diverted out plans.  Instead of going to the Empire Ranch we are at the fairgrounds in Tucson.

It was very cloudy this morning in Phoenix and it even sprinkled a bit while we were changing the tire.  It hasn’t rained here in a couple months, but we got about 1mm today!  Even ran the wipers for a couple swipes.

More clouds than sun today, only upper 60s and down in the 40s tonight   We haven’t had the heat on in days   Saved some propane!  But when walking Skye at 9 PM I’ve been wearing shorts and a T shirt for several nights.  Tonight it’s flannel shirt and jacket.  

Coyotes howling again!